New Roommates

This week marked the arrival of Sarah's parents, Patty and Gary from Maine. After they successful sale of their farmhouse in Maine, they packed up a 26-foot yellow Penske truck and headed west to live with us for the summer in Heber City, while they scout out houses in the Salt Lake Valley. The 2800-mile trip which normally takes 5 to 6 days was over in a record-breaking 3 days as they pulled double duty in the big rig.

Although Sarah and I have been very busy this week it has been nice having them so far. In fact they have done nothing but work since they arrived in the Beehive State. Wednesday night for example, we came home to a magically repainted kitchen which looks fabulous. Aside from pursuing health and happiness with diet and altitute training, both Patty and Gary plan on earning their keep around the house. Patty has been helping to decorate and quarterback the kitchen remodeling efforts, while diligently scrutinizing the Salt Lake real estate market. Gary, a finish carpenter by trade, plans to finish the kitchen, build a workshop in the garage, build out the second floor deck, and make various customized pieces of furniture for the house. Many jealous co-workers have offered to take them in as indentured servant. We've had to decline as they're already under contract with us.

Rough Morning

This morning Sarah and I left a little early for her meeting at Deer Valley. Sarah dropped me off across the street from my office. She was stressed because we were running late. I had my little silly BMX bike in the back so I hopped out with my coffee in a travel mug and grabbed my bike. For some reason it wasn't enough to simply push my bike across the street, I had to prove I could ride it. So I rode across the street into the parking garage where two old tourists were meandering about. I swerved slightly to avoid them with my coffee in hand and awkwardly hit a bump that laid me flat out on the floor. My bike' s headset loosened up on the bump and the handlbar bent forward. I skidded on my face into the parking garage trying to save my coffee while my legs doubled over my back from the momentum. Now I had half a cup of coffee, a busted bike, cuts on my hands and elbows, and filthy greasy skidmarks all down my shirt and splatters of coffee on the back. As I started to get up, the woman said, "Well I guess that'll teach you to steal your little brother's bike". She has no idea how close she came to death. If this day gets any worse it's because I was hit by lightning. Twice.

More On The House

Just checkin' in. Happy Summer everyone. Sorry we haven't written much lately. Our computer hasn't been set up for a while. And we're still getting settled. Most of the painting is done. We Pergoed the kitchen floor and still need to replace the trim. The bedrooms are newly recarpeted and we're setting in to those closets.

We ripped out a bunch of the old fixtures and have been carefully decorating. We've hit a few snags here and there. Soft drywall and poorly laid anchors have made for some interesting patch jobs. But nothing too bad. We've also become painfully aware of the trials of hard water. So a water softener will be the next major purchase.

We'll also be looking in to some basic lawn maintenance items. We're borrowing a manual mower with the rotating blade which gets the job done. It's a little silly, but not as silly as some of our neighbors who have riding mowers with headlights and cup-holders to mow a 0.1 acre lot.

We have also officially pimped out the garage. Our various shelving units are savng lots of space, but our Rubbermaid© FastTrack System is awesome for storing the 6 bikes and 12 (or so) pairs of skis that are currently in there. Plus with Patty and Gary moving out in a week or so, we'll be building a work bench so space is at a premium.

We love the neighborhood too. We have a nice cross breeze that comes through so we pretty much never use the central air conditioning. And we're able to run out the front door with the dogs and let them off leash 100 yards down the road. Our road becomes a dirt road that extends for miles between cow pastures with a 360° mountain view. Plus there's irrigation ditches and stream crossings where the dogs can cool off. The town of Heber is also a wonderful place. The main drag has all kinds of stores and restaurants. Nothing fancy, but everything you need. The movie theater has one cinema and gives your change in $2 bills and 50¢ pieces. The bowling alley is the happening place on Friday nights. We haven't been yet, but the parking lot is always jammed. There's also a rodeo down the street so close we can hear the PA announcer at night.

Anyway, that's the latest. I might head home to let the dogs out at lunch. Tonight I might sit in the back yard with a glass of wine and watch the sprinkler water the lawn. It's a lot more exciting than it sounds.